Shawna Hunter's Blog - Posts Tagged "writerslife"
Erotica Author Anonymity
Is Shawna Hunter my real name? No, it's a pen name.
That's about the only tidbit I'll give you about the real me. We can chat, you can read my works, my naughty tweets, my facebook posts, etc and glean something about the type of person I am but I do not talk much (if at all) about who and what I am. What are my politics? What is my race? What is my gender? What is my stance on X,Y,Z social issue? Not telling.
There are a number of reasons for this and they aren't all as simple as one might think. As an erotica author anonymity has its uses. People who know me in real life may come to view me as a pervert or a degenerate if they read my works for example. I also have a pro-LGBT stance (oops, let a social issue slip) in my work and some people can be rather hostile to that.
But it's more than this. More than the simple desire to not have my friends know...uh, I mean THINK...that I'm constantly dreaming up dirty scenarios. You see there are two schools of thought in regards to creators in the philosophy of art. Hopefully you will allow me to be generous and call my humble erotica novels art. The two schools (sorry, I don't know the names) are as follows.
One says you can't truly understand the art if you don't understand the artist. Van Gouh's Scream is just a creepy picture if you don't know what he meant by it.
The other says that your views of the artist will color your views on the art. You can love a piece of music, for example, until you find out that the person who wrote it has a lot of twisted and evil views. I fall into this camp (oops there's another opinion). I do feel that an artist's work can give you insights into who they are but I feel that the work itself should be considered apart from the creator in order to be appreciated on its own merits.
For example: I love Nietzsche. His philosophy (if a product of its time in terms of sexism) is insightful and moving and I personally feel that the parable of the madman is perhaps the greatest single piece of writing ever put to paper. That said he also wrote some poetry and it sucks. It's over long with no rhyme scheme and its a convoluted mess. I do not believe that I should give his poetry a pass just because I think he was overall a great writer.
Perhaps, one day, I'll get famous enough to reveal my own name and face as A. N. Roquelaure did when she was revealed to be the incredible Anne Rice. Perhaps I'll always be an obscure someone who added a few more dirty books to the pile. That's up to hardwork and fate. For now, for the sake of my work, I feel it more important to keep my day to day self and my author self separate. I do hope my readers can understand and appreciate that and if not...well try guessing. I won't tell you if you get it right but It'll certainly be entertaining to see what you come up with ;)
That's about the only tidbit I'll give you about the real me. We can chat, you can read my works, my naughty tweets, my facebook posts, etc and glean something about the type of person I am but I do not talk much (if at all) about who and what I am. What are my politics? What is my race? What is my gender? What is my stance on X,Y,Z social issue? Not telling.
There are a number of reasons for this and they aren't all as simple as one might think. As an erotica author anonymity has its uses. People who know me in real life may come to view me as a pervert or a degenerate if they read my works for example. I also have a pro-LGBT stance (oops, let a social issue slip) in my work and some people can be rather hostile to that.
But it's more than this. More than the simple desire to not have my friends know...uh, I mean THINK...that I'm constantly dreaming up dirty scenarios. You see there are two schools of thought in regards to creators in the philosophy of art. Hopefully you will allow me to be generous and call my humble erotica novels art. The two schools (sorry, I don't know the names) are as follows.
One says you can't truly understand the art if you don't understand the artist. Van Gouh's Scream is just a creepy picture if you don't know what he meant by it.
The other says that your views of the artist will color your views on the art. You can love a piece of music, for example, until you find out that the person who wrote it has a lot of twisted and evil views. I fall into this camp (oops there's another opinion). I do feel that an artist's work can give you insights into who they are but I feel that the work itself should be considered apart from the creator in order to be appreciated on its own merits.
For example: I love Nietzsche. His philosophy (if a product of its time in terms of sexism) is insightful and moving and I personally feel that the parable of the madman is perhaps the greatest single piece of writing ever put to paper. That said he also wrote some poetry and it sucks. It's over long with no rhyme scheme and its a convoluted mess. I do not believe that I should give his poetry a pass just because I think he was overall a great writer.
Perhaps, one day, I'll get famous enough to reveal my own name and face as A. N. Roquelaure did when she was revealed to be the incredible Anne Rice. Perhaps I'll always be an obscure someone who added a few more dirty books to the pile. That's up to hardwork and fate. For now, for the sake of my work, I feel it more important to keep my day to day self and my author self separate. I do hope my readers can understand and appreciate that and if not...well try guessing. I won't tell you if you get it right but It'll certainly be entertaining to see what you come up with ;)
The escapism plan
In my day job I work in an office. I have a customer service style role. I hate my freaking day job. I once joked that we need a sound proof helmet in the break room where a frustrated employee could go and just scream out everything they'd like to say to the customer's, the boss, the co-worker, etc. Just purge it from their system.
My boss replied that it would never work because people would get addicted and would lose productivity.
I thought of that discussion while watching the new South Park. Where the guy trolling was happy and relaxed as he waked down the street. He'd vented his hate and now he felt better. The problem was that all that hate was poisoning the environment for others. So we can't actually say what we want to each other. We can't vent it in the real or digital world, so what do we do?
Enter fantasy. Hate that bitchy girl from school? Read Dorothy Must Die. Sick of BS over fast food and how it's never perfect? How about some nice erotica? Just want to hunt down and kill that entitled bastard who just screamed at you for hours over something you have no control over because he didn't like the only resolutions you're able to offer? Murder mystery time!
My point is that fantasy works best as an escape. It's not always safe or relaxing but it allows us to vent our emotions and purge our frustrations. Brooke's Hollow, the fictional town from my books, is a safe, happy place where sex is practically on tap and fights are rare. Where a house wife can diddle the mailman for fun and still have her husband or wife be happy to see her when they get home from work. Is it realistic? Probably not but should it be? No. Its a vacation from the realities of selfishness, jealousy and kids walking in on your right as things get good. Its breath of fresh air when you really need it and a challenge that you can overcome and find greater happiness for having gone through it.
"It would never work. People would get addicted."
Book addictions aren't all that bad, are they?
My boss replied that it would never work because people would get addicted and would lose productivity.
I thought of that discussion while watching the new South Park. Where the guy trolling was happy and relaxed as he waked down the street. He'd vented his hate and now he felt better. The problem was that all that hate was poisoning the environment for others. So we can't actually say what we want to each other. We can't vent it in the real or digital world, so what do we do?
Enter fantasy. Hate that bitchy girl from school? Read Dorothy Must Die. Sick of BS over fast food and how it's never perfect? How about some nice erotica? Just want to hunt down and kill that entitled bastard who just screamed at you for hours over something you have no control over because he didn't like the only resolutions you're able to offer? Murder mystery time!
My point is that fantasy works best as an escape. It's not always safe or relaxing but it allows us to vent our emotions and purge our frustrations. Brooke's Hollow, the fictional town from my books, is a safe, happy place where sex is practically on tap and fights are rare. Where a house wife can diddle the mailman for fun and still have her husband or wife be happy to see her when they get home from work. Is it realistic? Probably not but should it be? No. Its a vacation from the realities of selfishness, jealousy and kids walking in on your right as things get good. Its breath of fresh air when you really need it and a challenge that you can overcome and find greater happiness for having gone through it.
"It would never work. People would get addicted."
Book addictions aren't all that bad, are they?
Its not easy to face a mistake
To the people who took the time to message me about issues they've found in my recent books:
I want you to know that I heard you. It wasn't an easy thing to hear but I appreciate your taking the time to not only let me know but to cite specific examples. I have had a rough few months for a variety of reasons but through it all I've been working hard to get these issues fixed. I have already sent off the corrections for 6s and 7s and A Girl Named Flower and I should have By Right of Conquest complete by the end of the week. I want to thank my publishers for their understanding and their willingness to address these problems during a busy time for them as well. I will let you all know as soon as I have confirmation that the updates are complete accross the various platforms where my books are available. Please note: There are no changes to the plots of these stories. Everything readers have loved is untouched. These are corrections to minor spelling and grammar issues only.
I want you to know that I heard you. It wasn't an easy thing to hear but I appreciate your taking the time to not only let me know but to cite specific examples. I have had a rough few months for a variety of reasons but through it all I've been working hard to get these issues fixed. I have already sent off the corrections for 6s and 7s and A Girl Named Flower and I should have By Right of Conquest complete by the end of the week. I want to thank my publishers for their understanding and their willingness to address these problems during a busy time for them as well. I will let you all know as soon as I have confirmation that the updates are complete accross the various platforms where my books are available. Please note: There are no changes to the plots of these stories. Everything readers have loved is untouched. These are corrections to minor spelling and grammar issues only.
